It's Still Christmas at Our House

We'll be leaving our Christmas decorations up until at least January 6th.  We haven't had a chance to invite our parents over to see our trees, and we hope to do that next weekend.  Yesterday, we helped our son move some of his things to Greensboro, where he'll be renting a house with two of his friends.  We'll get the rest of his furniture moved later this week.

What a busy holiday we've had and not a lot of time to take pictures of the house.  I like to see how things look different from one year to the next.  We did get a few pictures of our family room.  This is how it looked on Christmas Eve with all the neatly wrapped packages (I never get mine wrapped weeks before Christmas like some folks do).  :)

Christmas at My In-Laws' House

I promise I do realize that Christmas is not all about the decorations.  My friend Dotsie, who blogs at Podso wrote about all the symbols and traditions of Christmas much better than I could have.  To a large degree, our decorations and traditions are tied to the meaning of that first Christmas.  Most of us have secular decorations tied in with our religious decorations, but it is all about remembering the birth of the Christ child.

Today I'm sharing some of my mother-in-law's Christmas decorations from last year; she does such a pretty job every year.

A Quick Look At Our Christmas Mantel

I just finished tweaking our Christmas Mantel for this year and thought I'd show you what it looks like.  I'm really happy with the way it turned out!  This is the first time I've done a totally different mantel in more than ten years.  I love tradition, especially at Christmas, so I have a hard time changing too many things in my decorating.  However, I felt that it was time for something different where the mantel is concerned.

Images of Christmas Past

Alma, who blogs at The Tablescaper, has a wonderful idea for a link party.  Tomorrow, for her weekly Seasonal Sundays party, she's suggested we link our posts from previous Christmases.  I think this is a brilliant idea because we're all busy as bees trying to get ready for this Christmas -- decorating, shopping, wrapping, baking, addressing Christmas cards.  Soooo, I went through my archives and found some things to share from previous Christmases.  Some things were published in posts, but others are just pictures we took, but I never got a chance to do a post on them.  I hope you enjoy!

Christmas At My Parents' House

Hello everyone!  It's been a while since I've done a regular post; I hope I can still remember how.  :)  Have you had a nice weekend?  Have you bought your turkey and your cranberry sauce?  How about your sweet potatoes, pecans, green beans, and french fried onions in a can for all those veggie casseroles?  Do you have your pumpkin and whipping cream, broccoli, brussels sprouts, eggs for deviling, rolls and cornbread?  No?  Me neither.  :)

I'm not going to skip over Thanksgiving, but I don't have anything Thanksgiving-related to share today.  Instead, I've got some pictures of my parents' house from Christmas last year -- hope you enjoy them.

Our Christmas Mantel

I love to decorate for Christmas; I think I always have, even as a child.  I used to get so excited when my Mom got out our Nativity set every Christmas.  When my sister and I were in college, my parents would wait until we finished our exams and were home for Christmas break before decorating the tree.  They knew we'd want to help.

This is the first year I've had a blog, and therefore my first time to participate in the Christmas Blogger Block Party.  This evening, I'm linking to Holiday Mantels, hosted by Kristin at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia.  I have fairly traditional tastes in decorating, and that holds true for Christmas, as well.  My mother-in-law has several wonderful nutcrackers, and I got my inspiration for this mantel from her.  My in-laws have a fireplace much like ours in their den, and in their living room, they have a more formal fireplace.  It has a white mantel and molding and uses gas logs.  She fills her den mantel with nutcrackers and greenery, and the living room mantel she dresses more formally.

Our first home was a 1924 Craftsman bungalow.  The fireplace bricks were painted white, and it had a lovely white mantel.  I still miss that mantel (sigh).  But for now, I'm trying to make the most of the one we have.  Here is our Christmas mantel for 2011.

The Nutcracker Prince (made in Germany) on the far right was a Christmas gift from my husband the first year we were married.  The Santa Claus next to him was a gift from my husband's parents.  They went to Germany for the Christkindl Market when our son was just a baby, and brought us this Santa smoker.  I don't burn the incense because I'm afraid I'll burn his beard up.  :)

The woodcutter with the Christmas tree in his hand was made in Germany, also.  I found him at Home Goods for a real bargain.  I do love Home Goods.  :)  The greenery and Nandina berries on the mantel are faux, but I love their realistic appearance.  I got them at a local gift shop discounted after Christmas several years ago.

The berries above the picture are real; they came from the Nandina bush in our backyard.  The red candle in the center is an LED.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

In hopes that St. Nicholas...

...soon would be there. 

My husband's mother knitted these stockings for us when our son was born.  They're a treasured keepsake.

This handsome fellow was a doorstop in another life.  Now he adorns our hearth.  We are owned by are the proud owners of a Scottish Terrorist Terrier, who really keeps us on our toes. :)

Love the tree lights reflected in the glass of this print.

Thank you for hosting Holiday Mantels, Kristin, and Happy Decorating everyone!

...and to all, a good night.

Thanks for stopping by the House at Forest Manor.  I so appreciate your visits and love reading your comments.

On Wednesday, December 7th, I'll be linking to Merry Mantels, hosted by Rhoda at Southern Hospitality.  Merry Mantels is part of the Holiday Home Link Parties, and on Sunday, I'll be linking to Seasonal Sundays, hosted by the Tablescaper, who does such a wonderful job of hosting this party every week.

Also linking to Rene's Room By Room Christmas Tour at Cottage and Vine.  Thanks so much for hosting this, Rene! 

Denise